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FRESNO, Calif. - The 17-ranked UC San Diego women’s water polo team earned the position to play for the championship title of the first annual CCAA Championship Invitational on Sunday, after defeating Cal State Monterey Bay 14-3 Saturday evening at Fresno Pacific.

The Tritons, now 20-12 on the year, will play the third seed Cal State East Bay Sunday at 3:00 p.m. UCSD entered the tournament as the number one seed, earning a bye through the first round.

CSUMB, now 9-21, earned a first round victory over Azusa Pacific, will now play Sonoma State for third place.

Cal State East Bay posted wins against no. 6 Cal State San Bernardino (19-7) and no. 2 Sonoma State (8-3) to get to Sunday's championship game.

Melissa Bartow and Sarah Lizotte posted big numbers for the Tritons in the opening quarter to lead to a 7-2 advantage after just eight minutes of play. The Tritons and Pioneers met exactly one week ago, in the final game of the Bronco Invitational at Santa Clara. UCSD came away with a 12-10 victory.

UCSD only built on its lead from there, while adding a strong focus to defense. The Tritons held the Otters to go scoreless in both the second and fourth quarters. CSUMB’s Alex Tyrrell had their final goal of the game at the 1:54 mark of the third quarter.

The Tritons worked the ball on offense, earning eight ejections on CSUMB, connecting on five of them.

Seven different Tritons contributed on the offensive front, with Bartow scoring a game high four goals.